Apple Line Up

"Apple Line Up" 9 by 12, Pastel Painting

NFS

I completed this painting this morning in an effort to loosen up. I went along with a demonstration in a book I have. I didn't start with any drawing at all, which wasn't too difficult because they're just apples, but it was a different approach than I'm used to. I didn't want to use one of my pastelbords for this practice piece, so I used colorfix paper instead and I wasn't able to apply nearly as many layers of pastel.

I also completed this painting standing up at my easel, which I have never done. I usually paint small, so I find it easier to sit, but I enjoyed standing. I also think it may help me loosen up.

Have a great day!

Apple & Pears

"Apple & Pears" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I set up my very first still life today and painted from it. I can't tell you how much the thought of painting a still life (not from a photograph) has intimidated me. But as I become a little more comfortable with my paintings, I'm willing to challenge myself more. I bought this fruit the other day, just for painting. I can see a few things that I wish I would have done differently, but overall I'm happy with it. And most importantly... it was fun! I can certainly see a lot of possibilities coming out of this! It would definitely be nice not to have to be restricted to using photographs all the time.

Well, I hope where ever you are today that you're warm! We're under another winter storm warning, and I think we've gotten 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow already. I haven't stepped foot outside and I don't plan to. It's nice to have days like this once in a while. :)

Have a great weekend!

Apple Tea

"Apple Tea" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had with this painting this morning. I've never painted a background like this before (with the sheet or fabric draped behind). I had a lot of fun with all the loose strokes. I began layering and blending, but as the background started coming together, I decided to leave a few strokes expressive (not blended out). I think this adds a lot to the piece, and I might have to start doing it more often! I've thought for a long time that if I want to paint realistically that I have to blend my pastels, but I don't think that's true.

I was originally drawn to the photograph for this painting by the blue and red combination. I think the colors are just beautiful together. This painting was completed on pastelbord and I used a lot of Mount Vision pastels for the background, and mostly pastel pencils for the tea pot and apple.

I hope you have a nice afternoon!

Looking Out

"Looking Out" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

SOLD

"Looking Out" is my latest pastel painting. I have been enjoying painting cats lately. This painting was done on pastelbord with soft pastels and pastel pencils for the small details. I have already listed this painting on Etsy, if you're interested.

I've missed being loose with my pastels and painting skies and water, so that might be next. After my recent trip to Michigan, and seeing the lakes again, it has me longing to paint those types of scenes again.

I hope you all have a lovely evening.

Kitty Green Eyes

"Kitty Green Eyes" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

SOLD

Kitty is finished! I really didn't think I would be able to finish this by today, but I worked on it for a while last night and finished it this morning. I have to say, I love painting cats! Actually I'm beginning to fall in love with painting animals in general.

"Kitty Green Eyes" was painted with soft pastels and pastel pencils on Ampersand Pastelbord.

As I said in my last post, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, just for the weekend, so I won't be around until next week. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Red Apple

"Red Apple" 5 by 7, Acrylic Painting

My 150th post! Wow! I've been blogging a lot more the past 6 months than ever before, and I'm loving it! :)

I know what you're thinking, "Acrylic, really?" I was in the mood for painting with a brush this morning, so I brought out a set of acrylics that I've never used before. I've never painted in acrylic before, other than on cigar boxes. It was a lot of fun to be expressive through my brushstrokes and not have to worry about it being perfect. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. :)

I've been a little disappointed by what I've been hearing from other artist's lately. The most common thing I hear from them is, "You need to stick to 1 medium only." I've heard this from a few artists that I greatly admire, and for the most part I have done just that. But you know what... there are no rules when it comes to creativity. In fact it's somewhat limiting to stick to one medium if you want to experiment in others. So, that's what I'm going to do.

"Red Apple" is about 5 by 7 with a 3/4 inch white border all the way around. It was completed with acrylic paint on 195lb paper.

Have a nice day!

Portrait of Madisynne

Madisynne

Well, I'm quite embarrassed to even post this, but I thought I would anyway. In school I was never any good at portraits and I haven't even tried one in probably 10 years. Since I have been exploring other subjects, like animals for the first time, I thought I would also try a portrait. This is my 4 year old niece, Madisynne. It didn't turn out very well, and I'm not sure that I will be painting more portraits in the future. I've never really had the desire to be able to paint faces, so I don't know if this is something that I will work on to get better, or not. I suppose it would be nice to be able to paint one once in a while, if I wanted to. But why do they have to be so difficult? :)

Anyway, I painted her on pastelbord with pastel pencils.

Have a great Monday!

Summer Pond

"Summer Pond" 8 by 10, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I have been working the past 3 days on this little painting. When I first came across the photograph I said, "This is going to be fun," with all those variations of color and detail. And it was a lot of fun. I was unsure of how it was going to turn out, but I'm pretty happy with it. I've never spent so much time on a painting, and I've never painted something that's so "busy." But I loved painting the reflections in the water and all the different shades of green in the lily pads.

The size is 8 by 10, and it was done on pastelbord with pastel pencils.

Have a great day!

"Like a snowflake we are the beauty of one." -Kathleen Arnason

Green Grapes

"Green Grapes" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This is my second painting on the Wallis paper. I do love this painting surface. You can blend pastel so nicely on this paper. A fellow blogger told me that she loves Pastel Card by Sennelier. I had a sample of it, and it's really nice too. I may order some bigger sheets to experiment with.

This painting was fun to do. I never would have thought that I'd be painting still lives, but I have to say that I enjoy them. Although I would like to try some different subjects soon including animals and people.

I used all pastel pencils for this little painting.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I plan on making a trip to the pumpkin patch! :)